Spilling the Beans

Jaelen Lisberg 

Bush’s Beans celebrated National Chili Day in the best way possible. Brian Baumgartner, who is best known for playing Kevin Malone on The Office, demonstrated his chili-making skills in a recent ad for Bush’s Beans.

Fans of The Office may recall the episode in which Baumgartner’s character brought a giant pot of “Kevin’s Famous Chili” to work. In a series of unfortunate events, Kevin dropped his chili on the ground, used office supplies in an unsuccessful attempt to clean it up, and slipped and fell into the mess. 

Edelman and Carmichael Lynch collaborated to devise this humorous advertisement. Playing off the infamy of the chili scene, these agencies put a comedic spin on a simple chili recipe. Rather than calling it “Kevin’s Famous Chili,” this recipe is for “Brian’s Famous Chili.” Baumgartner displays several hilarious Kevin Malone tendencies while cooking with Bush’s Beans, and the ad ties in amusing aspects from The Office.

What we can takeaway from this advertisement is that using icons and implementing comedy is a successful way to create effective advertising. It’s important to create content that people will pay attention to and that will stick in their heads. The biggest challenge is not just attracting viewers’ attention but keeping it as well. Bush’s Beans #NationalChiliDay ad is memorable and achieves all the features of a productive, comical commercial.